Isobel and Emile by Alan Reed

until there are no more tins on the cart.
    When there are no more tins on the cart she goes to the back of the store. She leaves the cart by the door. She goes to where the crates are. She takes tins out of the open crate. She takes them over to the cart. She puts them onto the cart.
    All the tins left in this crate fit onto the cart. There is still room on the cart. She opens another crate. There are boxes of biscuits and more tins in the crate. She takes the tins out of the crate and she puts them on the cart. With these tins on it the cart is full.
    She takes the cart into the front of the store. There are fewer people in the store. One of them has her son with her. He is a little boy. He is holding on to her skirt. Isobel puts the tins from the cart on the shelves. When the cart is empty she goes into the back of the store.
    There are more crates in the back of the store. They all have things in them.
    Isobel takes the boxes of biscuits from the open crate. They do not fill the cart. She opens the next crate. She takes the things inside it and she puts them on the cart. She takes the cart into the front of the store. She puts the things from the cart onto the shelves.
    When all of the things from the cart are on the shelves she goes into the back of the store. She opens another crate.
    She does this until all the crates are empty.
    Isobel is in the room at the back of the grocery store. There are stairs here. There is a bathroom under the stairs. It is beside Mr. Koch’s office. She goes into the bathroom. The stairs are over her head. She washes her hands. They are dirty from working. She dries them on the towel that is here.
    She comes out of the bathroom and she goes up the stairs.
    Upstairs there is a room. There is a bed and a sink and a window inside it. There are plain white sheets on the bed. There is a mirror on the wall above the sink. There are curtains over the window. The curtains are flimsy.
    Isobel closes the door at the top of the stairs behind her. She takes her shoes off. She leaves them beside the door.
    She leans against the door. It is a large room. It is cold and there is dust in the corners.
    It is late. It is dark outside. There is street light coming in through the curtains. There is not much street light coming in through the curtains. It is dark in the room. Isobel cannot see what is inside the room. She can see the shapes of the things in the room but she cannot see them.
    She goes to where the bed is. She does not have to see the bed. She knows where it is. She sits down on the bed.
    It is her room now.
    She should be glad that it is her room now. She is not sure that she is glad.
    She rests her head in her hands. Her body hurts. She has not worked like this before. She went to school. She sat in a desk. She does not want her body to hurt. She does not know what she can do to make her body stop hurting.
    She rests her head in her hands. Mr.Koch stands at the bottom of the stairs. He is wearing his jacket and a hat. The hat is a very smart-looking hat.
    He says: ‘Isobel.’He says: ‘Isobel,we’re closing up for the day.’
    Isobel hears him. She does not say anything. She rests her head in her hands. Her fingers work into her hair. She wants to be able to do this.
    Mr. Koch says: ‘Will you be all right for the night?’ Isobel does not say anything. Mr. Koch says: ‘Do you need anything?’
    Isobel sits on the bed. She works her fingers deeper into her hair. She makes her hands into fists and she pulls.
    Mr. Koch says: ‘I will see you in the morning.’ He says: ‘Good night, Isobel.’
    She does not say: ‘Good night, Mr. Koch.’
    She hears Mr. Koch go out the door that leads into the alley. She hears him close the door behind him. She hears him lock it.
    She could look out the window and see him walking away.
    She pushes her hair away from her face. She stands up. There is a light bulb hanging from the ceiling. She goes to the